Women in Korean Workplace Grows

Demands on household and family needs forced many American women in the workforce in the 1960s. In addition to more women actively seeking careers, a similar trend is occurring in South Korea.

Han Gook Ilbo notes,

The number of Korean female workers reached a record high of 9.9 million last month, government report showed yesterday, pointing to the fast-growing female economic participation in the country.

The figure climbed over 2 percent from a year ago, compared to an 1.1 percent increase in the overall number of employees, according to the National Statistical Office.

The office pointed to higher educational levels and soaring social needs among female workers as major reasons for the increase.

The female portion in the job market also hit a new high of 42.2 percent in June, though the figure is quite below the 50 percent anverage in several developed economies.

The economic participation rate of Korean women has been steadily increasing lately.

More than half of the Korean female population was engaged in economic activities, including job-seeking efforts, as of 2005, up nearly 10 percentage points from the 1970s.

Female workers still have relatively poor job security despite fast-growing employment opportunities, the government data revealed yesterday.

Though more than 200,000 fresh jobs were offered to women for the past one year to June, the NSO noted that over half of female workers still have temporary or unpaid jobs.

This figure, when compared with 27 percent for males, points to an overall worsening employment environment for women.

Nearly 5.5 million female employees are working with lesser job protection than regular workers, according to the NSO.

>>>Critics claimed that the current increase in female employment stemmed from deteriorating household budgets, not from the narrowing gender gap.

"Many female jobs are held by women in their 40s and 50s. As housewives are increasingly feeling the pinch due to the unstable jobs of their husbands, and rising youth unemployment, they are forced to find jobs," said Kim Jee-hyeon, publicity head of the Korean Women Workers Associations United.